Annual Home Visits for Homeschoolers? No Thanks!August 18, 2014: Things may be looking up for homeschoolers down under. A parliamentary inquiry is underway to assess the current regulations that are so oppressive that many families choose not to comply with them. Annual home visits and subjective discretion are some of the reasons homeschoolers in Australia choose to ignore the oppressive law.

Homeschooling takes off in QueenslandMay 17, 2014: NAPLAN, bullying and simply struggling to fit in are some of the reasons why home school registrations have swollen by 234 per cent in the past seven years. Now, estimates say that there are more than 10,000 homeschoolers in the Queensland and rising.

Bullies spur parents to home school kidsJanuary 19, 2014: Bullying and “cattiness” spurred by social media has contributed to a surge in the number of parents deciding to teach their children at home, according to one of the State's biggest homeschooling bodies.

Australia: Home Visits Imposed on Homeschoolers Down UnderAugust 31, 2013: The New South Wales Board of Studies in Australia issued new regulations for homeschoolers. The Sydney Home Education Network (SHEN) has stated that the new policy could make it very difficult for many families to continue homeschooling.

Update on Home Education in AustraliaIn Australia, home education has grown rapidly over the past 25 years. Families are educating their children at home in all six States and two territories in urban, suburban, regional, and remote parts of Australia.

Country Information

Compulsory Attendance Ages: 6–15

Legal Status: In Australia there are six states and two territories,
each having its own Education Act. Homeschooling is legal in all Australian
states and territories.

Regarding homeschoolers: Each state or territory government has a home school
registration authority that seeks to register homeschooled children and to monitor
their academic work. Home schoolers are required to register with their state or
territorial education authority.

Regarding schools of distance education: All states have government schools of
distance education. The states of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia
have non-government schools of distance education. Families who participate in
distance education operate at home in the same way as home schoolers, but have the
support of teachers and educational resources associated with the school of distance
education. Students who are enrolled in a school of distance education are not
required to register with state government authorities, as the school of distance
education is subjected to government scrutiny, not the family.

Number of Homeschoolers: Approximately 30,000 families—including both
home school and schools of distance education. The Australian Christian College
(Australia’s largest Christian school of distance education) has over 1,700
families, with 4,000 students ranging from Preschool to Year 12 in its home
education programs.